


New World

by orphan_account



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Discussions On Sex, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 09:21:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24847477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After the war, Sokka and Hakoda catch up and give advice on each other’s love lives. Well, Hakoda gives advice. Sokka prods, and as he inevitably must, strikes a nerve.
Relationships: Background Hakoda/Bato (Avatar), Background Sokka/Suki (Avatar) - Relationship, Hakoda & Sokka (Avatar)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 152





	New World

“I had sex.”

Hakoda froze in his chair and tried to keep his face blank. Years of being chief to a tribe of men in a small ship where conflicts were common and swiftly dealt with lent him aid, and he calmly turned around in his chair to look at his son. Sokka was determinedly focusing on the contraption in front of him, some sort of device he had been fiddling with for the better part of the week. 

It had been a few months since the war had ended— and simply thinking that phrase still sent a rush of awe and disbelief in his mind, which he wasn’t sure would ever stop because his children had been born in war and had never known any different, but he had lost everything— his home, his wife, his parents, his brother. Now, it was all in the past, and a younger generation was taking the reins, breaking through barriers and extending friendships to previous enemies. Harder to forget forty years of hatred. 

He had sought Sokka out after the battle, intent on getting to know this new version of his son. Sokka was a man grown now, with experience leading troops and the ability to think quick on his feet. Hakoda couldn’t be more proud of him if he tried, but it hurt to know that he had missed both of his children growing up. Sokka was changed in so many ways now— he was an expert swordsman, and he could take command of a room in a way that reminded Hakoda so much of Kya. 

Some things, though, would never change. Hakoda was a sharp observer, and he knew his son. He could read like pages on a book the exhaustion in Sokkas shoulders and the weariness around his eyes. Noticed, too, the way his friends looked at him with devotion in their eyes, the way they instinctively looked to him for guidance when faced with a challenge none of them could bend their way out of. Remembered, with an ache in his chest, the days after Kya’s death when Sokka would crawl into his bed in the dead of night and they would shake together, neither of them ever shedding a tear. Sees that same familiar slump in the days after the war, telling him his son needs a break, even from— especially from— his friends. Knows he would never ask, because he loves them with a simple devotion that puts their needs above his every time. 

So Hakoda gives a nudge here, a prod there, suggesting that perhaps while Katara is busy with the rebuilding effort (and, he suspects, with the Avatar) they could go visit the Southern air temple, an idea Sokka latches onto with enthusiasm and no small amount of relief. They arrive in a few days, greeted by an eccentric old man whom Sokka seems to have a soft spot for. Sokka is given his own workshop filled with mechanical odds and ends, and he soon starts crafting wonders with his hands as Hakoda keeps him company and dabbles with a little machinery himself, sharing stories of their exploits while they were apart. 

All of which lead to Sokka abruptly cutting off one of his anecdotes to fiddle nervously with his contraption, before blurting out the words. Of all the changes Hakoda had seen, this was one he had not anticipated. Sex? Sokka was fifteen, much too early for that sort of thing. Although he himself had been fourteen when he had lost his virginity, to some village girl whose name he had long forgotten. 

“Oh?” he said, trying to sound as non judgmental as possible. 

“Uh, yeah. It was— weird.”

“Hm,” Hakoda said, amused despite himself. “Weird how?”

“Well. I mean.” He was rubbing his thumb repeatedly over the edge of the metal device. 

“Sokka,” Hakoda prompted, in the voice he used in soothing conflicting members of his tribe. It seemed to have an affect on the boy, because his shoulder relaxed and his words came more easily. 

“I mean, I didn’t mean to do it, you know? Or I guess I did, but— we were having a date, the first one we had in months, right after the war. Suki and I. And, well kissing became something else, and it was— good. Really good. Really weird, too, I’ve never felt anything like that.” 

He finally looked up at Hakoda, and he ruthlessly attempted to squash the humor in his eyes because it would definitely be taken the wrong way. Sokka wouldn’t have felt anything like that before, would he. In Hakoda’s own youth there had been several girls he had charmed from surrounding tribes. When he got a little older, there was Bato and their furtive hand jobs in the storage closets of the ships they had been sent off in to fight another man’s war. Kya, whom he still couldn’t bear to think about for long. Bato again, more recently, and that was something he needed to think about.

“Well, that’s normal,” Hakoda said. “Did you use protection?”

“Dad,” Sokka whined, face flushing under his tan. 

“I just want to know that you’ve been safe.”

“Ye-es. Suki was more prepared then me, I guess. It’s just— I liked it, and she liked it, but maybe I liked it a little more? Is that normal, for it to feel... like that?”

“Well,” Hakoda said, leaning back in his seat thoughtfully. “It’s different for everyone. You’re first time can be a little difficult, yes. Especially if, I’m assuming, it was her first time as well.” Sokka nodded, seeming to process this. 

“Was it for you? With mom, I mean.” Hakoda’s brows shot up. Tui, but this kid was young. 

“Well,” he said carefully. “Every relationship has its struggles.”

“Yeah, I know that, but what did you guys do to get past it?”

“Ah. Well, you see, to get past it, that is to say—“

“Because I want to know,” Sokka continued, and Hakoda breathed a sigh of relief. Sokka could survive a war, but Hakoda wasn’t sure he could survive knowing that his father was a sexual being. In his mind, Hakoda had probably had sex twice— once for him, and once for Katara. Hakoda was not eager to disillusion him of this idea. “I want to do it again, and this time I wanna make sure it’s good for her. I don’t want her to ever be uncomfortable around me, and that includes sex. Does that make sense?” He spoke determinedly, then became uncertain at the end. 

“That makes a lot of sense,” he said, smiling softly. “And it’s good that you’re thinking of her. However strange it felt to you, she probably felt it ten times over.”

“Oh. Really?”

“It can be rough on women, yes.” Especially if you don’t know what you’re doing, he completed in his head. 

“So what should I do then?” 

“Make her feel comfortable. Let’s start with basics. Do you know about lube?” Judging by his furrowed brow, Sokka did not. Spirits. “Right,” Hakoda said, snagging a bottle used for mechanical joints and slapping it onto the table in front of his son. “This? Used for more than metal. It... eases the way, so to speak. Use it liberally. It makes the whole thing a lot more pleasurable, for you and your girl.” Sokka had unscrewed the cap and was rubbing some between his fingers curiously. He seemed to get it, because he blanched and screwed the cap back on hurriedly. Hakoda turned his chair away slightly, hiding his smile. 

“Okay. Noted. But you said that was the basics, right? What about the more advanced stuff? I don’t just need supplies, I need information, I need a plan.”

“A plan, huh,” Hakoda said, definitely amused now. “Well, girls like some foreplay. Don’t just go straight for the prize, work for it a little. Kiss her in places she doesn’t expect, her arms and her hips. Run your fingers up her spine, use your—“ he cut off. 

“No, no, don’t stop there! This is good stuff, I could definitely use this.”

“Sokka,” Hakoda says with a sigh. 

“Come on, Dad,” Sokka pleads. “Where else am I gonna learn this stuff from? It’s not like there are any other guys my age in our tribe. I really want to make it special for her.” He had a point. Sokka was pretty isolated in the tribe in terms of age, all the other men being much older or much younger than him, for whatever reason. He had never had the brotherly affection Hakoda had shared with his men. Had never as a teenager blushed and stuttered while older cousins had laughingly told them about the best way to get a woman off. Another thing the war had taken from him. 

“Alright,” Hakoda said with a sigh. “But this doesn’t leave this room.” He infused it with as much authority as he could, and Sokka immediately straightened up. 

“You’ve got it,” he said, nodding. “No one will ever hear a thing.”

“Okay,” Hakoda exhaled, leaning back in his chair. “Well, when you’re with a woman, like I said, they like foreplay. Kisses and touches, yes, but don’t stop there. Use your fingers, and your mouth to pleasure her first.”

Pleasure her, Sokka mouthed, and he saw the moment that he got it. He flushed bright red. “Oh,” he said weakly. “My... mouth? Down there?”

Hakoda hummed. “And your fingers. Be patient, let her feel and enjoy all the things you’re doing instead of rushing towards your goal.”

“Huh. Okay, but what about me?”

“What about you? Don’t worry about yourself, you’ll get off no matter what. If you’ve done all those things, and she’s— finished— a few times, then you can see if you can hop the saddle, so to speak. Go slowly, and use lots of lube. How did you do it your first time?”

“Well...”

“Sokka.”

“I just sort of... pushed in? I didn’t know all this stuff! And she said she wanted to make me happy.”

“Sokka,” Hakoda sighed. “I taught you better than that. Well, I’m glad you came to me, anyhow. Is that enough for today?”

“I think so,” Sokka said, nodding. “Thank you, Dad,” he said, clasping a hand on his shoulder. “This was really helpful.”

“Hm. Not a word of this to anyone. Bato would never let me live it down.”

“Sure, sure. You know Dad, maybe you should try finding a nice lady friend for yourself, now that the wars over.”

“Ah, well—“

“I know, I know, it’s none of my business. But I think mom would be happy to know you’re happy.” Sokka stared at him earnestly and Hakoda swallowed around the lump in his throat. “Besides,” Sokka said lightly, “have you seen some of these women in the fire nation?” He whistled. Hakoda cuffed him on the back of his head, and Sokka tilted his head back and laughed. 

“You have a girlfriend.”

“Nothing wrong with a little looking!”

“There’s nothing little about it,” he said, hiding his grin. “Listen, Sokka, the thing is—“

“I can set you up on a date! Zuko knows a lot of single fire nation nobility.”

“Pushing aside the fact that that sounds like actual hell on earth,” Hakoda said. “I’m actually— seeing someone.”

“Oh,” Sokka said, stunned. “Well, do I know her?”

“You do,” Hakoda agreed cautiously. “And that’s all you’re getting, for now.”

Sokka nodded absently, face thoughtful. Hakoda knew he was flipping through every woman he had ever seen Hakoda with in the past year. Knew, also, that there was no fish to be caught on that hook. The casual use of the pronoun he had used saw to that. Did he regret, a little, that his children had never seen that part of his life? A little, to be truthful. In the early days Bato had been around almost everyday, making sure Katara and Sokka were clean and fed in a time where Hakoda had locked himself in his room and succumbed to the grief and guilt that was eating him alive. Had forced Hakoda to eat as well, pushing right past the snarled words and vitriol filled remarks he had thrown Bato’s way in an effort to push away anyone who dared try and help him. Bato was probably the reason Hakoda was still alive, multiple times over, and when he was overwhelmed with the responsibilities of raising his kids alone, of taking care of an entire tribe, of fighting a war that kept taking more and more away, Bato was there, his second in command and partner in every way. 

It was Hakoda who had forced them to stay hidden, who had worried about what the rest of the tribe would think, how it would mean Hakoda stepping down as chief in a time where their tribe couldn’t take any more change and turmoil. He had been right, but it didn’t excuse his actions. Now, Sokka looked at him and knew nothing about one of the most important people in his life, who had helped raise Sokka and Katara both. Well, almost nothing. 

“I’ll ask Bato,” Sokka said, smirking. “There’s nothing he doesn’t know about you. There’s no way you’d be able to hide a lady friend from him.” Sokka went back to fiddling with the device in front of him, and Hakoda looked quietly at his desk. He got up and crossed the room, opening the door to leave. 

“I’ll see you at dinner, alright Sokka?”

“Well, sure,” he said, puzzledly glancing up. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Hakoda said, forcing a smile. “Just tired.” Sokka turned back to his work, and Hakoda strode down the crisscrossing paths to his room. 

The thing was. The fact of the matter was, Hakoda had kept them hidden because his people had needed a chief. They had needed a chief who could put the needs of his tribe above his own wants. If Hakoda had been forced to step down, and Bato with him, then there would have been a power struggle in a time when they desperately needed to present a united front. Warring factions didn’t just mean political instability, it meant winters starved and not being able to send money back home from where they were fighting for the earth kingdom. Hakoda had long ago resigned himself to a life of secrecy. The war had waged long before he was born, and it would continue long after he died. Or so he thought. But the war was over, ridiculous as it sounded. He had done his duty, and his people were stronger than before. He could... they could... 

Foolish thought. Impossible thought. But he thought of one of the rare nights off a few months ago, before the battling had increased, when he and Bato had snuck away, rented a room in some shady inn. How he had woken up to lazy blue eyes on his, tanned skin dappled with sun. How he had wanted to stay there forever, wake up every morning to that man. His best friend, his lover, his guider, his protector. 

That could be real. His tribe didn’t need him anymore. The war was over. He could be happy. A soaring feeling was rising in his chest, and he finally opened the door to his room which he had been standing in front of. It was a new world. It was time he started living in it.

**Author's Note:**

> Comment if you liked it, hated it, or were ambivalent!


End file.
